The FIAT 1100/Premier Padmini Technical Information thread

This is a discussion on The FIAT 1100/Premier Padmini Technical Information thread within Post-War, part of the Vintage Cars & Classics in India category; Hi all,
Finally today I could fit alternator to my FIAT . It costs me as per following,
1. TVS-Lucas ...

I had purchased the alternator from Lucas _TVS and they only fixed it in my PP car. This was more than 5 years back. Till now, there has been no problem. Battery gets charged within 3 kms of the vehicle running. The battery life has also increased. I run the car only once in 7 days. And that too on Sundays only.

I am quite sure you would also not have any problem with the alternator.

From past 4 to 5 months, i am struggling to get my S1 re-registered, but facing unique issue with tax price. RTO officer is asking me to get the original tax invoice or price list to get the base price of my vehicle. I have been trying to find out from different sources, but in vain. So if anybody having any idea or invoice or price list copy, do let me know.

From past 4 to 5 months, i am struggling to get my S1 re-registered, but facing unique issue with tax price. RTO officer is asking me to get the original tax invoice or price list to get the base price of my vehicle. I have been trying to find out from different sources, but in vain. So if anybody having any idea or invoice or price list copy, do let me know.

I have a price list of various S1 models ex showroom Lucknow, do let me know if this will work for you.
BTW what model S1 do you have ?

Am getting real adrenaline rush at my find- a single owner(the elderly uncle-my next door neighbour- can be seen in one of the photos) 1996 Premier S1- like a dream barn find (she was locked up at Badlapur, Maharashtra). Low mileage and well maintained to the core but all locked up and standing for 3years now. If all goes well, I will be picking it up today and the pictures I had taken of it, during my first post will be up. Fiat Gurus are requested to kindly guide me on her restoration. All guilt at having abandoned my first S1 baby way back in 2007 are finally ironed to pleasure of a substitute. She has some after-market RV mirrors etc but I think those can be taken care of... Please feel free to enlighten me on making this a grand entrant into the Fiat Car Club....

Behram, a query. Do you connect the E pump in series or parallel? I found that connecting in series was not much use because if the diaphram of the mechanical pump fails the fuel does not get to the carb. If fitted in parallel, how do you adjust the pressure? And do you have a return line from the carb to the tank? You said that you fit the E pump in the spare wheel well. That means you are using LONG THROW pumps. Any experience with Short throw ones? Last question. Which are your preffered brands? These pumps are also getting scarce.

Dear Mr.Bulldogji - hello to you. I have read a lot of your posts on the forum and I would love to meet you next time in Mumbai or if you are coming to Pune, we can catch up. The complete answer is as follows. I am giving the logic. It will answer all your above questions.

Specifications - the electronic fuel pump that I use is the UCAL FACET in-line oriented reciprocating stainless steel plunger pump. This is a short suction head, long delivery head pump. The mass flow specification as per its engineering drawing calls for 980cc/min minimum, operating on a non-pressurized (open) outlet. The specification of suction head to delivery head is around 1.1, however, preferred outlet length is 20 times inlet length. Life test of maintenance of delivery to specifications @ 500 hrs and salt spray tests are specified in the drawing.

Vehicle Packaging (for field use only, no production intent) - the green plastic cover below the spare wheel which gives access to the fuel tank outlet pipe is removed and discarded. Use a carburettor equipped Maruti Van fuel filter. It's pressure drop specifications match NISSAN requirements, although I don't remember the exact drawing details. Connect the tank outlet to the filter inlet, connect the filter outlet to the pump inlet, connect the pump outlet to the metallic pipe which runs underfloor to the engine compartment. For production Padmini application with Solex carburettor, all other fuel line attachments remain unaltered, except that any fuel filters in the engine compartment must be discarded. For production Padmini application with Mikuni carburettor also, all other fuel line attachments remain unaltered. Solex does not call for fuel return line, Mikuni calls for fuel return line. Having a fuel return line in Solex carburettor cars is better as it reduces the fuel temperature inside the carburettor float chamber by 12 degrees. It is also good for the duty cycle of the needle valve of the Solex BICSA.

Thanks Behram.Since you connect the E pump in series I assume the mechanical pump would have a pressure feed instead of gravity for which it is designed. Would this not shorten the life of the diaphram? Also, have you experienced a noisy ticking noise at times? At those times I have checked for air in the lines but that is not the case, nor is there any symptom of fuel starvation. Yet, for no obvious reason the E pump suddenly becomes very loud,as if it is taking in air, engine temp being around 90C.then equally suddenly it reverts back to normal. Any ideas? Whenever you are next in town lets meet up. Regards.

Thanks Behram. Since you connect the E pump in series I assume the mechanical pump would have a pressure feed instead of gravity for which it is designed. Would this not shorten the life of the diaphram? Also, have you experienced a noisy ticking noise at times? At those times I have checked for air in the lines but that is not the case, nor is there any symptom of fuel starvation. Yet, for no obvious reason the E pump suddenly becomes very loud, as if it is taking in air, engine temp being around 90C. then equally suddenly it reverts back to normal. Any ideas? Whenever you are next in town lets meet up. Regards.

Dear Bolldogji - thanks for your reply. Your first query has some logic but I have not had any issues so far, I can safely say that I have exceeded life test cycle situation. I guess the line pressure that the mechanical pump diaphragm can withstand covers this situation. I'll check the specifications on design operating pressures once again. All my reference manuals are in Mumbai but I am in Pune as I work here. The noisy ticking will only come when there is air in the pump. If the tank has very less fuel, due to sloshing, this is known to happen, very difficult to detect. This can also happen in high ambient conditions on a gradient, as you have mentioned operating temperature as around 90 degrees C, it can happen if vapour lock is beginning to form. In this case, the situation will escalate and the engine will stall, so your observation that the loud noise goes away indicates operation in a transient zone which will be very interesting to analyse. I suggest you read my recommendations to Mr.K.K.Vaidya of Ahmedabad and Mr. Rahul Waghmare (Scarlet Rider) of Hyderabad on the permanent corrective action (PCA) that I have given to them on the vapour lock issue in 118NE cars. This solution was implemented in production. It can be implemented on Padmini also.

Hi Behram, I fitted a transparent fuel hose to the carb inlet to see if Icould spot air bubbles as this was the first thought that came to mind.But no luck. Also , this happens when the car is idling in traffic and not on gradients, with full fuel in the tank . Another perplexing point is that when this happens, the car does not stall or miss behave in any manner, so fuel starvation I ruled out.Vapour lock used to be an issue with mechanical pumps. Have you faced it with E pumps? And then she should stall , jerk etc. This does not happen and after a few seconds the noise levels become normal. I repeat , when this happens, performance is not affected and hence I am at a loss to understand what is happening. Warm regards

Dear Bolldogji - I would like to get complete details of the system as fitted to your car, which I presume is a Padmini. Plumbing / routing can play a major role here, which becomes difficult to detect. For example, the design angle for pump mounting is 15 degrees. If you can post some pictures of the set-up, I'll be able to comment and guide you further. I would not discount the quality of the pump itself. On your query on whether I have faced vapour lock issue with electronic pump, I have given full details of the tests carried out along with complete solution in the Premier 118NE thread. Please go through. You will get all answers.

Hi Behram, My apologies if somehow I gave you the impression that I was facing this problem in a Padmini. This phenomenon , which is puzzling but gives me no problem , is experienced by me on E pumps fitted to older american cars. I have now fitted submersible pumps on some cars on an experimental basis. Lets see how they work a long term .Thanks and hope to meet up whenever you are this side. Warm regards.